Southeast WA refugee group reeling after Trump orders 30% of employees cut

Southeast Washington’s only refugee resettlement agency was forced to furlough 30% of its employees this week, staff told the Tri-City Herald.

The furloughs at World Relief Tri-Cities come as the Trump administration’s immigration policies rocked refugee and immigrant service organizations.

World Relief – with offices in Tri-Cities, Olympia, Bellingham, Spokane and Seattle – is a global Christian humanitarian organization with a mission to mobilize local churches to support refugees and other immigrants.

Refugees are legal immigrants forced to flee their country because of persecution, war or violence. They depend on refugee resettlement agencies like World Relief for support as they build new lives in the U.S.

Resettlement paused

In response to Trump’s executive order that suspends refugee admissions and resettlement in the U.S., the team at World Relief Tri-Cities had to adjust.

Nearly 230 pre-approved and vetted refugees expected to arrive in Tri-Cities at the end of January and in the coming months had their flights canceled.

With the swift halt of incoming refugees, the nonprofit is shifting its programs and services to meet the needs of immigrants already in Tri-Cities.

Director Ken Primus told the Herald last month that World Relief Tri-Cities was preparing to downsize.

Now, weeks later, a number of the organization’s 31 staff members – many of them former refugees – were furloughed.

It’s unclear how long the unpaid leave could last or what services will be affected.

Moves to dismantle USAID

Reports this week of the apparent dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) also left the global humanitarian community reeling. The agency is on the cusp of being shuttered, according to an article on the White House website.

USAID is the largest funder of international aid to alleviate poverty, pay for education, treat disease, respond to natural disasters, and reduce hunger and malnutrition.

“This is the latest in a series of incredibly concerning developments that could indicate a tragic intent to dismantle lifesaving aid and development work around the world,” said World Relief Senior Vice President of International Programs Lanre Williams Ayedun in a post on World Relief’s Instagram.

The Associated Press reported that in the span of a few weeks, much of the agency was in turmoil – work and spending ordered stopped, leadership and staff gutted by furloughs, firings and disciplinary leaves, and the website taken offline. Lawmakers said the agency’s computer servers were carted away.

For more information about World Relief Tri-Cities, visit worldrelief.org/tricities.